Long-run effects of training programs for the unemployed in East Germany

Public sector sponsored training was implemented at a large scale during the transition process in East Germany. Based on new administrative data, we estimate the differential effects of three different programs for East Germany during the transition process. We apply a dynamic multiple treatment approach using matching based on inflows into unemployment. We find positive medium-and long-run employment effects for the largest program, Provision of Specific Professional Skills and Techniques. In contrast, the programs practice firms and retraining show no consistent positive employment effects. Furthermore, no program results in a reduction of benefit recipiency and the effects are quite similar for females and males. --multiple treatments,training programs,East Germany

Get Training or Wait? Long-Run Employment Effects of Training Programs for the Unemployed in West Germany

Long-term public sector sponsored training programs often show little or negative short-run employment effects and often it is not possible to assess whether positive long-run effects exist. Based on unique administrative data, this paper estimates the long-run differential employment effects of three different types of training programs in West Germany. We use inflows into unemployment for the years 1986/87 and 1993/94 and apply local linear matching based on the estimated propensity score to estimate the effects of training programs starting during 1 to 2, 3 to 4, and 5 to 8 quarters of unemployment. The results show a negative lock-in effect for the period right after the beginning of the program and significantly positive treatment effects on employment rates in the medium- and long-run. The differential effects of the three programs compared to one another are mainly driven by differences in the length of the lock-in periods. --multiple treatments,training programs,employment effects,local linear matching,administrative data,active labor market programs

Get Training or Wait? Long-Run Employment Effects of Training Programs for the Unemployed in West Germany

Long-term public sector sponsored training programs often show little or negative short-run employment effects and often it is not possible to assess whether positive long-run effects exist. Based on unique administrative data, this paper estimates the long-run differential employment effects of three different types of training programs in West Germany. We use inflows into unemployment for the years 1986/87 and 1993/94 and apply local linear matching based on the estimated propensity score to estimate the effects of training programs starting during 1 to 2, 3 to 4, and 5 to 8 quarters of unemployment. The results show a negative lock-in effect for the period right after the beginning of the program and significantly positive treatment effects on employment rates in the medium- and long-run. The differential effects of the three programs compared to one another are mainly driven by differences in the length of the lock-in periods. --multiple treatments,training programs,employment effects,local linear matching,administrative data,active labor market programs

Imputation Rules to Improve the Education Variable in the IAB Employment Subsample

The education variable in the IAB employment subsample has two shortcomings : missing values and inconsistencies with the reporting rule. We propose several deductive imputation procedures to improve the variable. They mainly use the multiple education information available in the data because the employees' education is reported at least once a year. We compare the improved data from the different procedures and the original data in typical applications in labor economics: educational composition of employment, wage inequality, and wage regression. We find, that correcting the education variable: (i) shows the educational attainment of the male labor force to be higher than measured with the original data, (ii) gives different values for some measures of wage inequality, and (iii) does not change the estimates in wage regressions much. --

Imputation rules to improve the education variable in the IAB employment subsample

"The education variable in the IAB employment subsample has two shortcomings: missing values and inconsistencies with the reporting rule. We propose several deductive imputation procedures to improve the variable. They mainly use the multiple education information available in the data because the employees' education is reported at least once a year. We compare the improved data from the different procedures and the original data in typical applications in labor economics: educational composition of employment, wage inequality, and wage regression. We find, that correcting the education variable: (i) shows the educational attainment of the male labor force to be higher than measured with the, original data, (ii) gives different values for some measures of wage inequality, and (iii) does not change the estimates in wage regressions much." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))IAB-Beschäftigtenstichprobe, Bildungsabschluss, Bildungsverlauf, Datengewinnung, Validität, Stichprobenfehler, Datenaufbereitung, Arbeitsmarktforschung, Reliabilität, Datenqualität, Imputationsverfahren

Long-Run Effects of Training Programs for the Unemployed in East Germany

Public sector sponsored training was implemented at a large scale during the transition process in East Germany. Based on new administrative data, we estimate the differential effects of three different programs for East Germany during the transition process. We apply a dynamic multiple treatment approach using matching based on inflows into unemployment. We find positive medium- and long- run employment effects for the largest program, Provision of Specific Professional Skills and Techniques. In contrast, the programs practice firms and retraining show no consistent positive employment effects. Furthermore, no program results in a reduction of benefit recipiency and the effects are quite similar for females and males

Get training or wait: Long-run employment effects of training programs for the unemployed in West Germany

Öffentlich geförderte Qualifizierungsmaßnahmen zur beruflichen Weiterbildung weisen oftmals nur geringe oder negative kurzfristige Beschäftigungseffekte auf, und es ist oft nicht möglich abzuschätzen, ob sie langfristige positive Effekte haben. Auf der Basis einzigartiger prozessproduzierter Daten, werden die langfristigen Beschäftigungseffekte von drei unterschiedlichen Typen von Qualifikationsmaßnahmen in Westdeutschland geschätzt. Die empirische Analyse benutzt die Zugangsdaten zur Arbeitslosigkeit für die Jahre 1986/87 und 1993/94 und unterzieht sie einem lokalen linearen Propensity Score Matching. Analysiert werden die Auswirkungen von Qualifikationsmaßnahmen, die während des ersten und zweiten Quartals, während des dritten und vierten Quartals und während des fünften bis achten Quartals der Arbeitslosigkeit begonnen haben. Die empirischen Ergebnisse zeigen einen negativen Lock-in-Effekt für den Zeitraum direkt nach Programmbeginn, mittel- und langfristig jedoch signifikant positive Effekte in Hinblick auf die Beschäftigungsquote. Die unterschiedlichen Auswirkungen der drei Typen von Qualifikationsmaßnahmen werden vor allem auf die unterschiedliche Länge des Lock-in-Zeitraums zurückgeführt. (IAB)"Long-term public sector sponsored training programs often show little or negative short-run employment effects and often it is not possible to assess whether positive long-run effects exist. Based on unique administrative data, this paper estimates the long-run differential employment effects of three different types of training programs in West Germany. We use inflows into unemployment for the years 1986/87 and 1993/94 and apply local linear matching based on the estimated propensity score to estimate the effects of training programs starting during 1 to 2, 3 to 4, and 5 to 8 quarters of unemployment. The results show a negative lock-in effect for the period right after the beginning of the program and significantly positive treatment effects on employment rates in the medium- and long-run. The differential effects of the three programs compared to one another are mainly driven by differences in the length of the lock-in periods." (author's abstract

Essays on long-run employment effects of training programs for the unemployed, regional mobility and data quality

This dissertation in the field of empirical labor economics comprises four independent chapters. They are motivated by the high unemployment rates in Germany. Chapters 1 and 2 are evaluation studies on the long-run employment effects of training programs for the unemployed in West and East Germany, respectively. The topic of chapter 3 is the relationship between the regional unemployment rate and regional mobility in West Germany. This dissertation is based on register data, the IAB employment subsample (IABS). In the methodological chapter 4, deductive imputation procedures are proposed in order to improve the quality of the education variable in the IABS. In chapter 1, „GET TRAINING OR WAIT? LONG-RUN EMPLOYMENT EFFECTS OF TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR THE UNEMPLOYED IN WEST GERMANY” (with Bernd Fitzenberger and Aderonke Osikominu), and chapter 2, “LONG-RUN EFFECTS OF TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR THE UNEMPLOYED IN EAST GERMANY” (with Bernd Fitzenberger), training programs for the unemployed are evaluated. Long-term public sector sponsored training programs often show little or negative short-run employment effects and often it is not possible to assess whether positive long-run effects exist. In these chapters the long-run (up to six years since program start) differential employment effects of three different types of training programs in Germany are estimated. Inflows into unemployment for the years 1986/87 and 1993/94 are considered and local linear matching based on the estimated propensity score is used to estimate the effects of training programs starting during 1 to 2, 3 to 4, and 5 to 8 quarters of unemployment. The results for West Germany in chapter 1 show a negative lock-in effect for the period right after the beginning of the program and significantly positive treatment effects on employment rates in the medium and long run. The differential effects of the three programs compared to one another are mainly driven by differences in the length of the lock-in periods. The results for East Germany, where training programs were implemented at a large scale during the transition process, are shown in chapter 2. Positive medium- and long-run employment effects are found for the largest program, Provision of Specific Professional Skills and Techniques. In contrast, the programs practice firms and retraining show no consistent positive employment effects. Furthermore, no program results in a reduction of benefit recipiency and the effects are quite similar for females and males. In chapter 3, „REGIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT AND REGIONAL MOBILITY IN WEST GERMANY“, the relationship between the regional unemployment rate and regional mobility in West Germany is studied. The investigation is motivated by the large and persistent geographical unemployment rate differentials. Job changes of men between 1984 and 1997 are analyzed. The measure of regional mobility is the share of job changes between regions among all job changes. Regional mobility is analyzed in a linear probability model. This chapter’s main finding is a statistically significant but economically very weak positive relationship between the regional unemployment rate and regional mobility. Finally, chapter 4, “IMPUTATION RULES TO IMPROVE THE EDUCATION VARIABLE IN THE IAB EMPLOYMENT SUBSAMPLE” (with Bernd Fitzenberger and Aderonke Osikominu) concerns the data used in this dissertation. The education variable in the IAB employment subsample has two shortcomings: missing values and inconsistencies with the reporting rule. Several deductive imputation procedures are proposed to improve the variable. They mainly use the multiple education information available in the data because the employees' education is reported at least once a year. The improved data from the different procedures and the original data are compared in typical applications in labor economics: educational composition of employment and wage inequality. It is found, that correcting the education variable shows the educational attainment of the male labor force to be higher than measured with the original data and changes some estimates of wage inequality

Get Training or Wait? Long-Run Employment Effects of Training Programs for the Unemployed in West Germany

Long-term public sector sponsored training programs often show little or negative short-run employment effects and often it is not possible to assess whether positive long-run effects exist. Based on unique administrative data, this paper estimates the long-run differential employment effects of three different types of training programs in West Germany. We use inflows into unemployment for the years 1986/87 and 1993/94 and apply local linear matching based on the estimated propensity score to estimate the effects of training programs starting during 1 to 2, 3 to 4, and 5 to 8 quarters of unemployment. The results show a negative lock-in effect for the period right after the beginning of the program and significantly positive treatment effects on employment rates in the medium- and long-run. The differential effects of the three programs compared to one another are mainly driven by differences in the length of the lock-in periods

Beschäftigungseffekte ausgewählter Maßnahmen der beruflichen Weiterbildung in Deutschland : eine Bestandsaufnahme (Effects of selected measures of further vocational training in Germany : an appraisal)

"New administrative data have recently permitted a differentiated and dynamic evaluation of the employment effects of measures of further vocational training in Germany which have been conducted in the context of active labour market policy. The data available for this purpose include firstly data for the time of the Employment Promotion Act in the 1980s and 1990s, and secondly the data of the Integrated Employment Biographies (Integrierten Erwerbsbiografien (IEB)) for the Social Code III from the year 2000 onwards. The aim of this paper is to assess the results of currently presented evaluations on the basis of these new data sets. We report results from other studies as well as those from our own studies. The results show that the employment effects of measures of further vocational training are far more positive than suggested by studies conducted in the past on the basis of survey data. It can be seen however, that long training measures often do not show their positive effects until some years later. This requires panel data over a long period of time, which are currently only available for the 1980s and 1990s. For this reason, policy implications about the effectiveness of further training measures should not be drawn on the basis of short-term employment effects alone." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Weiterbildungsförderung, Beschäftigungseffekte, arbeitsmarktpolitische Maßnahme - Erfolgskontrolle, Trainingsmaßnahme, geschlechtsspezifische Faktoren, Westdeutschland, Ostdeutschland, Bundesrepublik Deutschland